While the Green Bay Packers didn't make the splashy signings (expected signings, that is) that some other teams did on Monday, they did make a necessary upgrade to their offensive line, reportedly inking guard Aaron Banks to a four-year, $77 million deal.
Banks, a second-round pick of the San Francisco 49ers in 2021 after earning consensus All-American honors in his final season at Notre Dame, served as a backup during his rookie campaign but started 43 of the 44 games in which he appeared for the Niners over the last three seasons.
The 27-year-old had the best season of his young career in 2024, posting a 91.7% pass-block win rate and a 69% run-block win rate. Banks also recorded the best overall PFF grade of his career this past year at 65.4.
It should be noted, however, that his mark ranked just 50th among 135 eligible guards. So, the Packers may have overpaid a touch. Again, though, this was a necessary move.
And it's certainly not surprising to see Green Bay tinkering with the offensive line. With center Josh Myers not expected to return, the Packers were seemingly set on moving someone already on the roster into that slot, and the expected signing of Banks now allows them to do just that.
But while some Packers fans were hoping to see right tackle Zach Tom move to the middle, it looks as if that slot is being reserved for two-time Pro Bowler Elgton Jenkins.
Elgton Jenkins will reportedly become the new Packers center after the signing of guard Aaron Banks
For anyone entertaining the thought of Banks playing center, that's simply not going to happen. Of the nearly 2,600 snaps he's taken in the NFL, all but five have been at left guard.
As mentioned, there was talk that Zach Tom could potentially make the move to center, as it was once said that some within the Packers' organization believed he could be a Hall of Famer at the position.
According to Green Bay beat reporter Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, however, Elgton Jenkins is expected to move from left guard to center.
And this is a move that makes sense, as Jenkins was the starting center in his final two seasons at Mississippi State and has taken close to 400 snaps at the position for the Packers.
Where all of this leaves 2024 first-round pick Jordan Morgan has yet to be determined, as it seems likely that the Packers will begin the 2025 campaign with Banks, Jenkins, and Sean Rhyan on the interior.